Healthcare Policy/Public Health Major; 3.88 UW; SAT 1500; AL Resident

Chance Me / Match Me
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1

Demographics

  • US domestic: US Citizen/Permanent residence
  • State/Location of residency: Alabama
  • Type of high school (or current college for transfers):Public, magnet High School, graduating class of 91 students, Ranked 1st in AL
  • Female

Cost Constraints / Budget
<80,000 per year

Intended Major(s) Public Health/Healthcare Policy/Medical Humanities

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • Unweighted HS GPA: 3.88
  • Weighted HS GPA:4.5
  • Class Rank: Not given
  • ACT/SAT Scores: 1500; 32 ACT(Not reporting)

List your HS coursework

(Indicate advanced level, such as AP, IB, AICE, A-level, or college, courses as well as specifics in each subject)

  • English: 9th Honors Eng, 10th Honors Eng, 11th AP English Language and Composition, 12th AP English Literature and Composition
  • Math: 9th Honors Algebra II w/ Statistics; 10th AP Pre-Calc; 11th AP Calculus AB; 12 AP Calculus BC
  • Science: 9th Honors Biology; 10th Honors Chemistry; 11th AP Chemistry; 12th AP Biology
  • History and social studies: 9th AP World History; 10th AP United States History; 11th AP European History; 12th AP Macroeconomics and AP Government and Politics
  • Language other than English: 9th German II; 10th German III
  • Visual or performing arts: N/A
  • Other academic courses: 9th Visual Arts, Career Prep; 10th AP Seminar; 11th AP Research, AP Human Geography, AP Statistics; 12th AP African American, AP Physics C Mechanics; AP Psychology

Awards:

National Merit Semifinalist

Top 10 in Alabama State Science Olympiad

2nd Place in DECA AL State Integrated Marketing Campaign–Product

AP Capstone Diploma

Selected to Auburn University Summer Science Institue( 1 out of 16 selected , 5% acceptance rate)

Extracurriculars
Summer Research Intern–Cancer Research Lab, Department of Biology, Tuskegee University; Published literature review in international journal as first author

Member of high school advocacy group, surveyed over 1.5k high school students, developed policy regarding survey results, presented to AL senators and congressmen in D.C while lobbying for changes in educational policy

Alabama state policy director for national nonprofit, recieved position from fellowship I did over the summer. In the fellowship, I developed independent policy regarding local hospital bankruptcy and its impact on surrounding uninsured demographics.

Indian Classical dancer for 12 years. Completed Arangetram( performed solo for 2 hours signifying graduation or debut as professional dancer, highest level of achievement as Bharatanatyam dancer)

Director of annual schoolwide talent show to audience of 300+. Managed 18 acts, backstage, tech, lights, and over 120 students. Raised cultural awareness for Asian, African, and Hispanic cultures. Accumulated and fundraised 14k over 4 years.

Captain of schools mock trial team

Varsity member of science olympiad

Volunteer at bankrupt local hospital(mentioned in previous activity)

Vice president of NHS

Captain of Indian Dance team at my high school

Essays/LORs/Other

Physics Teacher( 8/10) Has known me since middle school.

Gov Teacher(7/10) Gives context of me as a student

Counselor(3/10) Uses same template for every student

Dance Teacher (9/10) Has known me the longest and has seen my development as a dancer.

Schools

  • Assured (100% chance of admission and affordability): N/A
  • Extremely Likely: University of Alabama, Auburn University, University of Alabama at Birmingham
  • Likely: University of Florida( Qualify for in-state residence)
  • Toss-up: N/A
  • Lower Probability: University of Michigan, UT Austin, UNC Chapel Hill
  • Low Probability: Cornell, Upenn, Brown, Columbia, Emory, Rice, Barnard
2

Congrats on a fine record.

So - why didn’t you take a third science. I know you have a 3rd year but APES or Physics?

What are you hoping to do with your degree? With an BS in PH, you’re likely going to grad school or getting a lower paying job (lower paying than other business majors). Of course, UNC has several majors in Gillings. Bama’s salaries, depending on the concentration, are about $8K behind so not a ton.

To me - the first thing is -

what is the goal?

And then, how important is money - and do you need it to achieve the goal - because let’s be honest, financially, nothing is going to touch Bama.

Just for tuition, room and board - you’re about $270K at UNC vs. free and then some at Bama, assuming NMF. You are $325-350K cheaper than Michigan, etc. etc.

So to me, if you’re going to choose Bama and it’s a reasonable choice, why apply anywhere else. You might even be interested in the McCullough Medical Scholars.

Secondarily, you have an $80K budget so U Mich is unlikely to achieve - it’s very expensive and goes up the last two years.

Has your family run the net price calculator for Upenn, Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Emory, Rice, Barnard, etc. because they’re all over $80K with no aid - or at Rice and Emory, a very very very small chance. Do they show under $80K??

Here’s a couple for your parents to fill out.

So - are you desiring something beyond Bama, even if salaries wont’ be that far off?

If so, will the privates come in under $80K.

You asked for chances - I agree with Bama, UAB and Auburn but I can’t imagine anyone in state who wins NMF wouldn’t go to Bama.

I’,m not sure if UF is likely. Can you do your UF GPA. Take your classes - add .5 for Honors and +1 for AP. Only count the academic classes. Their 25/75 is a 4.5 to 4.7. I;m not sure how you weighted yours. It might be likely. Worst case, probably a target.

My guess is you get into none of the lower probability and low probability but I’m not an adcom. So who knows.

You have a wonderful record. I don’t know your ultimate goals but you can achieve them from anywhere.

Best of luck.

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3

Are you considering being premed (ie, maybe someday going to medical school)?

I know someone who double majored in nursing and public health, and who ended up with two master’s degrees, one in nursing and one in public health. Budgeting for at least one master’s degree might not be a terrible idea. Of course your in-state public universities should be enough below your stated budget to help you quite a bit in this regard.

I would make sure that your guidance counselor agrees that you have a safety on this list (my guess is that you do, but I am not from your state). I agree that your “low probability” schools are indeed low probability, but I think that you can do very well with a degree from any school on this list, and you have a good mix of schools.

Regarding your low probability schools, you might want to learn as much as you reasonably can about each of them. If any look to be not quite as good of a fit for you then shortening your list of low probability schools might be a good plan. You might also want to make sure that they are likely to meet your budget.

I do also wonder why you have not taken physics. Physics at the university level is a premed requirement, although I would be surprised if it is required for a degree in public health. I think that there is a significant advantage to having taken a class at the high school level before taking the same subject at the university level.

I think that I would report a 1500 SAT score at all of these schools, even if it is below the median for your reach schools. 1500 is really very good.

4

The first thing I would do is use the NPCs for all of the schools on this list and eliminate those that do not come within your budget. If you would like to keep schools that have scholarships (ie Emory) that’s ok, but keep in mind that they are highly, highly competitive.

I think you have a nice mix of schools. If you are planning a career in public health you will likely need to get an MPH. I would consider this when making your budget.

5

Are you applying for financial aid? If not, Michigan and all your reach list schools will not meet your $80k budget.

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6

Please stop saying these types of things. Every year, there are over 14,500 NMF who indeed do NOT go to Alabama, including many in state students. You really “can’t imagine” any reason why a student would attend elsewhere?

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7

I’d add Harvard & Yale to your “reach” list or as possible replacements.

Harvard offers Global Heath & Health Policy as a secondary field and Yale offers the History of Science, Medicine, and Public Health (HSHM) major & a Five-Year B.A.–B.S./M.P.H. Joint Degree Program (must apply junior year after completing at least 4 semesters).

This is somewhat concerning given the size of your senior class. Why isn’t this at least (5/10)?

8

She’s taking AP Physics C but has it listed under Other academic courses.

9

Ahhhhhhh. That will then help at some of the reach schools chance wise. It’s hard to say there will be an acceptance. Being from Alabama may help with the NE schools.

10

Q: Can you disclose which subjects you earn “non-A” grades? Are any "A-"s or "B+"s given?

Q: Can you provide us with a section breakdown of your ACT & SAT scores & also AP scores?

11

This is my opinion. You have a different opinion. I don’t ask you to stop sharing yours. If you disagree, say you disagree without attacking another.

This is my belief, especially if OP has a budget and is planning on school beyond undergrad.

The opportunities - including an tuition free MPH if that is the route the OP is taking - are just too good. If OP had a double in Arts & Science, they can apply to the McCullough program for extra enrichment and get a minor in Interdisciplinary Medicine.

Given the NMSF, if the OP would rather a smaller school, like a Rice or Emory, U Tulsa would be a safety. Historically (I don’t know about today), it’s a school that kids didn’t get into Rice attended (still says it in one of the big admissions books according to a poster) - and they give four years tuition and housing. So that might be a smaller school add on that takes any budget questions away (for OP).

Good luck to OP.
Thank you.

12

You’re free to state your opinion, but the “I can’t imagine why anyone would choose differently” or “not on any planet I live on” type rhetoric is basically insulting anyone whose opinion is different than yours. Frankly, it’s ridiculous. You’ve already flagged my comment and it was removed, so let’s move on.

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13

Further back and forth needs to move to pm.

As a reminder people are welcome to share their opinions but making absolute statements are typically not helpful nor accurate.

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14

Thank you so much for the advice! I am taking AP Physics C Mechanics this year, I listed it under other academic courses. Additionally, I do consider attending med school some day.

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15

This brings up three issues.

One is that medical school is expensive. Any high school senior who is serious about medical school should be budgeting for a full 8 years of university, where the last 4 are going to be expensive. Thus running somewhat under budget for your bachelor’s degree might be a good plan, particularly if the money can be saved for a doctorate.

Another is that the students in very good MD programs typically come from a huge range of undergraduate schools. You can attend your in-state public universities, do very well, and go on to a very good medical school.

The third thing that comes to mind is also quite important. Premed classes are in many cases very tough. Exams are tough. Part of this is that the professors in these premed classes understand that they need to help figure out which of their students are so excellent that they should be the ones going on to medical school. If everyone gets an A it would be way more difficult to figure this out, but don’t worry about this, there won’t be too many A’s passed out in premed classes.

To me, this last point suggests that for a premed student, attending a university where you walk in as a student in the top 1/4 of the incoming students is not such a bad idea. The hard work and excellent results that you got in high school will mostly be important to help you to be very well prepared to do well in these tough premed classes. Any merit aid is an additional benefit.

Even if you do walk in as a student in the top 1/4 of incoming students, you will still find the premed classes tough. One daughter did exactly that (except pre-vet rather than premed, the required undergraduate classes are the same), and she still referred to organic chemistry as “the most difficult B- that I ever had in my life”, and she still found a significant number of students in her premed/pre-vet classes who were exceptionally strong.

And I might add that your excellent high school results suggest that you are likely to be well prepared to do well in university. “Well prepared” includes having good study skills which will be needed in some of these tough classes.

I guess there is a fourth point that might be worth mentioning. Of the students who start university thinking “premed”, the large majority end up choosing some other path. Some for example decide that they would rather go into research. I mention this partly because I think that I remember you have already having some good research experience. This is something that you can figure out after you get to university, or in some cases even after having a bachelor’s degree. As an example, some students will do some medical shadowing and some research while in university, and just figure out what they want to do after trying a bit of both. There are of course also lots of other very good career options and it is entirely normal to decide between them after getting some classes and some related experience in university.

Best wishes.

16

If med school, may be in your future - some schools post the undergrad colleges attended. You might be surprised at some of the names - they are far from the "big’ names. I linked two profiles below.

I also put a list that Vandy puts out - you can see how many applicants from Vandy got into each med school. It’s 3 years of applicants which is the denominator and numerator is the right side. So going to a “premier” school doesn’t necessarily help move the med school needle.

But if you have $80K for undergrad, you may consider saving some for the $100K+ it’s likely to cost later.

If you look at any academic hospital, where the residents go, you’ll see a ton of undergrad schools, both top and not.

For example, at Vandy, in the PMI group, I see:

Drake U
Duke
SUNY Oneonta
Baylor
UNC
UAH
U Nebraska at Omaha

For Radiation Oncology

Wisconsin
USC
Ole Miss
Lafayette
UMASS
Rhodes
UCSB
Tennessee

So think about 8 years + of budget needs - and make sure you are making a decision that works for that - to help minimize how much in loans you’ll need to take and pay back.

But you don’t not need to go to an elite college to work even at an elite academic hospital.

You do need to do all the things that must be done - high MCAT, shadowing, volunteer work and more - which you can read about on other threads.

At Bama (if you consider it seriously), look into the McCullough Program as enriching, but you do need an Arts & Science major too, I believe - but you can double if that program was of interest.

Unknown Title

com-profile-of-admissions-2026-final.pdf

2023-Annual-Report.pdf

17

Right now you appear to be interested in careers that require some type of grad school. This could be an MPH, medical school, or something else entirely. You can change your mind multiple times in the next few years.

Are your parents able to help pay for any additional education? Is there money left to help pay for a graduate degree if you save a little on undergrad? You do not have to answer here, but this is something I would think about. Medical school is ridiculously expensive, and grad school is costly as well.

I think there needs to be a balance between affordability given your potential career goals, and choosing a school where you would be happy for 4 years. Both are important.

Pre med/pre health/policy can be achieved at all of the schools you noted. My recommendation still stands: use the NPCs and cross out schools that are out of budget.

Given that you qualify for in-state residence in Fla, would you consider adding other schools?

Best wishes!

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